Engineering design process

The engineering design process refers to how engineers create and validate designs for products, processes and systems---including their lifecycle processes such as manufacture, maintenance and end-of-life considerations such as recycling, remanufacture or disposal. A range of descriptions of the process are available; there is no single standard form, although many aspects are recognisable across individual engineers' practices and companies' processes. Regardless of context, the engineering design process is iterative – activities and decisions often need to be revisited several times as new information becomes available – though what gets iterated and how many times may vary.

Some of the ways of describing the engineering design process are as a progression through steps or stages, as a collaborative social activity involving many participants, and as a decision making process in which the engineering sciences, basic sciences and mathematics are applied to make a series of decisions in a systematic way to meet stated objectives. Because the engineering design process is very complex and situation-specific, each individual perspective shows only a piece of the puzzle; modern thinking recommends a pluralistic approach considering multiple perspectives to develop a solid understanding of the engineering design process. Among the fundamental elements of the design process are the establishment of objectives and criteria, synthesis, analysis, construction, testing and evaluation.

The concept of the engineering design process is distinct from the concepts of the engineering method and the engineering mindset. The process refers to how engineering work unfolds or should unfold over time, over a series of stages, or over a set of activities. The related terms of engineeering method and engineering mindset refer to the more general systematic approach that engineers use to address problems. Thus for example, engineering method and mindset can be used to address complex problems in business as well as in engineering itself.